Taiwan Coast Guard Receives First V-BAT Aircraft From Shield AI

Defense-technology company Shield AI announced on October 13, 2026, the first delivery of its V-BAT uncrewed aircraft to the Taiwan Coast Guard Administration (CGA) with its partner Aerospace Industrial Development Corporation (AIDC). The company said twelve V-BATs will be delivered to the CGA over the coming months. The agency competitively selected the aircraft in July 2026 for its “Shipborne UAV” program.

Presentation at the Port of Taipei

On October 7, 2026, the CGA presented its newly arrived V-BATs at the Port of Taipei to Minister Kuan Bi-ling of the Ocean Affairs Council and Secretary General Joseph Wu of the National Security Council. Shield AI engineers demonstrated aircraft setup within minutes during the visit.

The Coast Guard Administration’s own account of the inspection states that Kuan, accompanied by CGA Director-General Chang Chung-lung, joined Wu at the Taipei Port coast guard base on the afternoon of October 7, where vendors briefed the officials on the performance and operation of the MARTAC T-24 unmanned surface vehicle and the V-BAT drone, with an on-site vendor display using a training aircraft. The release also records that Kuan tried a ship-handling simulator in the agency’s digital navigation simulation classroom and, the same day, inspected rehearsals at the base for the October 10 National Day ceremony, which the CGA said would feature two assault boats, one MARTAC unmanned boat, one JUMP 20 drone, and mobile radar and infrared thermal-imaging vehicles.

The CGA will operate the V-BAT as a ship-based capability to maintain persistent Maritime Domain Awareness for surveillance, coastal patrols and law enforcement operations, according to Shield AI. The company states that vertical take-off and landing aircraft eliminate the need for runways, improve deployment flexibility, optimize costs and reduce personnel requirements. Shield AI said it will train Coast Guard operators and maintenance personnel and, working with AIDC, build a localized support system for the delivered aircraft.

“V-BAT will give Taiwan’s Coast Guard the maritime domain awareness and intelligence picture needed across the Taiwan Strait and its maritime borders,” said Brandon Tseng, Shield AI’s president and co-founder. Tseng said the aircraft already performs this role for the U.S. Coast Guard, where he said it helped intercept more than 100,000 pounds of narcotics last year. Extending those capabilities to Taiwan, he said, helps keep the Strait safe from illegal activity and hostile actors and gives Taiwan the sovereignty to protect its own waters.

“CGA’s V-BAT adoption demonstrates what can be achieved by combining Shield AI’s world-class technology with AIDC’s localized expertise,” said AIDC President Jennifer Chuang. She said Shield AI has strengthened its local presence and footprint in Taiwan over the past year and has shown a willingness to integrate, sustain and support advanced autonomous systems in Taiwan with local partners.

September 2025 Teaming Agreement

The delivery follows a formal Teaming Agreement the two companies announced on September 11, 2025, aimed at advancing Taiwan’s sovereign defense capabilities, strengthening its aerospace industrial base and enhancing collaborative technological innovation. The agreement defines collaboration on sustainment, training, autonomy integration and other technical initiatives so that Shield AI’s products can be deployed, supported and scaled in Taiwan.

AIDC’s own release on the agreement, dated September 15, 2025, describes the goal of building an unmanned-systems ecosystem spanning manufacturing and assembly and testing through maintenance and warranty. Under the cooperation framework, AIDC handles local maintenance, saving the time and shipping cost of returning equipment to the United States, while Shield AI trains Taiwanese engineering personnel. AIDC said the framework could eventually allow some system components to be replaced with Taiwan-made parts, raising domestic content, and it quoted Tseng describing the partnership as accelerating Taiwan’s drone and aerospace industry and building next-generation deterrence for the next 20 years.

Shield AI describes the V-BAT as a Group 3 uncrewed aircraft system with a ducted-fan design, more than 12 hours of endurance and a heavy-fuel engine. According to the company, the aircraft is designed, tested and deployed for contested electronic-warfare environments and delivers intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance as well as targeting capability at significantly lower cost and logistical burden than larger systems. Its single-engine, enclosed-rotor design enables safe, unassisted launch and recovery from ship decks, urban rooftops and austere environments, which the company says makes the aircraft suited to maritime and expeditionary operations.